Failed MOT

[milford man]

Failed on front brake pipes. Last year car passed with 2 advisories. Nearside & Offside Brake Pipes Slightly corroded. This year booked it into the same garage. I have been using them for nearly 20 years but when I dropped the car off this morning was greeted by the new owner. Feared the worst.

Just got a phone call your car has failed. He said he hadn't looked at last years MOT until he had failed it. Its failed on the badly corded brake pipes mentioned in the advisory last year. I said it stated slightly not badly. Well its a fail now as they are badly corroded. Not wanting to do the job myself I asked how much. Got a load of waffle about going all round the engine bay into master cylinder and into ABS modulator. Its going to cost you £300 to £350. No its not as I will be doing it myself.

I have the tools and fittings and pipe. How things change.

Regards John

[trikey]

Not good, quite a few failures i see can be cleaned up and treated rather than replaced, i have sent two back for retest this last month with cleaned pipes and they have been passed.

Easy money for garages doing brake pipes.

[Mickyboy]

Clean them up as said, I too have seen a few failures that when cleaned are passed later

[Rev Jules]

Failed on front brake pipes. Last year car passed with 2 advisories. Nearside & Offside Brake Pipes Slightly corroded. This year booked it into the same garage. I have been using them for nearly 20 years but when I dropped the car off this morning was greeted by the new owner. Feared the worst.

Just got a phone call your car has failed. He said he hadn't looked at last years MOT until he had failed it. Its failed on the badly corded brake pipes mentioned in the advisory last year. I said it stated slightly not badly. Well its a fail now as they are badly corroded. Not wanting to do the job myself I asked how much. Got a load of waffle about going all round the engine bay into master cylinder and into ABS modulator. Its going to cost you £300 to £350. No its not as I will be doing it myself.

I have the tools and fittings and pipe. How things change.c

Regards John

Hi John.
If they were an advisory last year, and you have said you have the tools and pipe, why haven't you done it?

Rev

[Rooney]

Cost me less than £15 to replace the brake pipes on my tourer.

I'm far from a mechanic but some things are just too simple to be able to justify paying someone else to do.

[kbonney88]

How bad are they - can you clean them as trikey has said? might be worth a go..

Iand as for the garage doing them - I can't see where the justification is for that quote.. the drivers front is a pain on the "V6", but its still not that bad.. alot easier on the diesel.
I have changed all 4 outer pipes on one of my cars this week, but to be fair they did need changing..

so good on you John for doing it yourself if you do change them - it wont take you long and as a result you won't be out of pocket.. nice one..

regards,

Kev :)

[milford man]

Hi John.
If they were an advisory last year, and you have said you have the tools and pipe, why haven't you done it?

Rev
I was going to do them in the summer but ran out of time. I had to rebuild the engine. New pistons and liners.

Regards John

[MSS]

Failed on front brake pipes. Last year car passed with 2 advisories. Nearside & Offside Brake Pipes Slightly corroded. This year booked it into the same garage. I have been using them for nearly 20 years but when I dropped the car off this morning was greeted by the new owner. Feared the worst.

Just got a phone call your car has failed. He said he hadn't looked at last years MOT until he had failed it. Its failed on the badly corded brake pipes mentioned in the advisory last year. I said it stated slightly not badly. Well its a fail now as they are badly corroded. Not wanting to do the job myself I asked how much. Got a load of waffle about going all round the engine bay into master cylinder and into ABS modulator. Its going to cost you £300 to £350. No its not as I will be doing it myself.

I have the tools and fittings and pipe. How things change.

Regards John

Put yourself in the tester's shoes. He sees a pipe covered in corrosion. He is not allowed to start removing the corrosion. He then has a judgement call to make on the severity of the corrosion and evidently did so based on what he observed.

The statement on last year's MOT about the condition of the pipes is irrelevant this time around, other than being indicative of a possible positive vindication for the current tester's assessment.

The pipes should have been attended to in some way prior to the latest MOT if the aspiration was to achieve a first-time pass.

Look on the bright side - the tester may have saved you or/and another party injury due to brake failure.

[COLVERT]

Go for it yourself if you have the tools.

Sometimes if they are easy to get at you can just replace the corroded section,
Depends on what kind of flaring tool you have.

[Tiff]

I've failed a few 75's on front brake pipes, then when removing them to fit new ones have been surprised how bad they were. Sometimes a brake pipe can look bad, then when you remove them you are glad you failed them- unseen bits can be totally rotten and ready to fail. Being a tester is a curse sometimes- dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.

To correctly assess the condition of corroded metal brake pipes, surface dirt might have to be removed. This might require light scraping with the Corrosion Assessment Tool ‘spade end’. Care must be taken not to damage any protective coating.
Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe so that its wall thickness is reduced by 1/3 (e.g. approximately 0.25 mm for typical hydraulic brake pipe) is a reason for rejection.

This is what we are told is the pass/fail criteria. If the pipes are painted,undersealed or hidden, then we have to pass and advise if there is a concern. Brake pipe bursts above a tank, car has an accident with a years MOT on it, we end up in court.

[milford man]

Put yourself in the tester's shoes. He sees a pipe covered in corrosion. He is not allowed to start removing the corrosion. He then has a judgement call to make on the severity of the corrosion and evidently did so based on what he observed.

The statement on last year's MOT about the condition of the pipes is irrelevant this time around, other than being indicative of a possible positive vindication for the current tester's assessment.

The pipes should have been attended to in some way prior to the latest MOT if the aspiration was to achieve a first-time pass.

Look on the bright side - the tester may have saved you or/and another party injury due to brake failure.
You have a point but £300 to £350 to do the work I am sorry that is taking the Michael.

Regards John

[milford man]

I've failed a few 75's on front brake pipes, then when removing them to fit new ones have been surprised how bad they were. Sometimes a brake pipe can look bad, then when you remove them you are glad you failed them- unseen bits can be totally rotten and ready to fail. Being a tester is a curse sometimes- dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.
Yes I suspect they need doing and if he had said £100 to £150 I would have said go ahead. £350 is way too much. I have problems with my lower spine and after doing the engine rebuild I am still recovering. The pipe has cost me £10.99 I already have the unions. I am quite happy to pay if it is a reasonable amount but I wont be ripped off.

Regards John

[Tiff]

That's fair enough John- Last front pipes I did on a 75, I think were put out at about 80 quid- they price you were given was way OTT. Please don't give testers a hard time though, some of us try to do our jobs properly and within the rules and regs! Even then, there can be "issues"

[motmann]

That's fair enough John- Last front pipes I did on a 75, I think were put out at about 80 quid- they price you were given was way OTT. Please don't give testers a hard time though, some of us try to do our jobs properly and within the rules and regs! Even then, there can be "issues"

I had a mondeo estate burst a pipe on the brake rollers last week, pipes looked serviceable,but up behind the fuel tank were you can't see...... thats about the 5th time this year on 5 different cars, as tiff says, US testers are dammed if we do and in court if we don't!, to be honest I don't give brakes and tyres much "benefit of the doubt"

[milford man]

All done. Put new flexible pipes on as well as I bought some last year for silly money. Took me about five hours to do both sides. Cleaned every thing up. Only thing I didn't have in stock was the pipe. Got some from Halfords for £10.99 and used less than half. Now for a retest.

Regards John

[Jim Jamieson]

I was very surprised when our 75 diesel failed with badly corroded rear brake pipes when the car was around 6 years old.

But believe me corroded brake pipes should be treated with some urgency.

I was driving my grand daughter to nursery class when I suffered a brake failure one mile from home. I did manage to limp home but one front pipe has completely gone and this had not even been an advisory at the previous test.

[Tenesmus]

What's the hourly rate of your garage? Maybe you need to find another if you think they're charging too much.

[SD1too]

£350 is way too much.
£300 to £350 to do the work I am sorry that is taking the Michael.
All done. Took me about five hours to do both sides.
Five hours eh John? I've renewed brake pipes too and to do it neatly takes time, so let's have a look at that garage's quote.

£300 divided by 5 hours is £60 per hour, and £350 is £70 per hour.

Is that not the typical market rate? :shrug: Perhaps it's a sign of an honest garage which intends to take the same care as you did. Just a thought.

Simon

[milford man]

Five hours eh John? I've renewed brake pipes too and to do it neatly takes time, so let's have a look at that garage's quote.

£300 divided by 5 hours is £60 per hour, and £350 is £70 per hour.

Is that not the typical market rate? :shrug: Perhaps it's a sign of an honest garage which intends to take the same care as you did. Just a thought.

Simon
You may be right but my 5 hours included replacing the flexible pipes and a complete fluid change. I am getting on a bit and with a crumbling spine I am slow. I would have thought a younger and fitter mechanic with access to a four post lift and air power tools would improve on that time.

Anyway its all done now and booked in for a retest Monday.

Regards John

[milford man]

What's the hourly rate of your garage? Maybe you need to find another if you think they're charging too much.
Don't know what the hourly rate is as normally I do my own repairs. I have a back problem so thought I would ask for a price. I have friends who have had repairs done with the previous owner and been very happy. I just thought it was too expensive.

Regards John

[SD1too]

... normally I do my own repairs ... I just thought it was too expensive.
:iagree:
It is, when you do your own repairs (as I do too). :}
I am getting on a bit and with a crumbling spine I am slow.
Slow is good John. :D

All the best,

Simon

[milford man]

It passed. Another years motoring hopefully.

Regards John